


The Weird Beginning

by Little_Bunny



Series: The Weird 'Verse [1]
Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Aftercare, Episode: s04e04 The Phantom Prisoners of Ohio State Penitentiary, No Sex, No cheating, Non-Sexual Age Play, Platonic BDSM, Platonic Relationships, Queerplatonic Relationships, Spanking, Talking Things Over Like Responsible Adults
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-06
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:08:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21691579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Bunny/pseuds/Little_Bunny
Summary: It really started for a stupid reason, and that stupid reason was the Ohio State Penitentiary.Sometimes an idea gets stuck in your head. Sometimes, people do weird things with their friends. For their friends. Whatever.Of course being spanked can't be worse than being hung by your thumbs...Listen, curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought him back. What could it possibly hurt to ask?It's not like it's the first weird thing Ryan and Shane have done together.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Ryan Bergara & Shane Madej, Shane Madej/Sara Rubin
Series: The Weird 'Verse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1563661
Comments: 32
Kudos: 123





	The Weird Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimers: 
> 
> 1\. While this uses the names and likenesses of real people, this work has no connection to these people. The author of this work knows nothing about the actual personal lives of any of the people whose names are in this story, and this entirely fictional story is based on these people as fictional characters. Every plot point and detail herein is fictional and occurs in a fictional universe that may have some passing similarities to our own, but they're all coincidental and unaffiliated with this real universe.
> 
> 2\. This is not a how-to guide for BDSM in any way, shape or form, be it platonic or otherwise. These are fictional people doing fictional nonsexual BDSM and kink in a fiction story. Do not use their play as your guide.

The whole weird _thing _starts at Ohio State Penitentiary.

They’ll trim the conversation during editing, but the raw footage is...a little weird. And not because of the ghosts.

Ryan finishes explaining how the prisoners had been punished by being hung by their thumbs, and as usual, Shane has to get a snarky comment in there.

"It doesn't sound like the worst possible thing to do to someone," Shane says in that flat, Midwestern way of his.

"It does to me!" Ryan counters. "That would fucking hurt, dude! At the very least, your ligaments would be a mess, and you'd probably break bones too, if you struggled. And you can't tell me you wouldn't struggle if you knew someone was gonna hang you up by your thumbs." His friend is actually ridiculous.

"Wouldn't they just pop right out of the sockets?" Shane asks. Ryan grabs his left thumb firmly in a pinched grasp, and Shane lets the weight of his arm drop. Ryan can see him grimace slightly at the pull it exerts. "Oh, I don't like that one bit!"

Ryan releases him. "Yeah, if they hung me by my thumbs, I'd be pretty upset," he says. "What would you think was worse?"

"I dunno. Electrical shock. Burning. Uh, maybe waterboarding."

"Don't think they did that kind of torture back then. Things were a little more old-school. Not Guantanamo Bay," Ryan points out. "That kind of torture takes technology."

"Burning doesn't," Shane argues.

"Burning isn't on the table, dude. It's also not the Spanish Inquisition! You can't even think of anything, can you?"

Shane, always contrary, replies, "Well, it's--again, it's not the worst thing they can do; they can give you a little…" he waves his hands, grasping for ideas, "you know, a paddle to the bottom or whatever--"

Ryan feels his eyebrows rise with disbelief. "You would rather be hung by your thumbs than take a little spanking?" He pauses, but Shane doesn’t interject. "Come on man, you're joking, right? Think about how much that would screw up your hands and shoulders. Not to mention the pain. That would be way worse than getting paddled."

Shane nods slightly in confirmation. "It could be a big, big paddle," he points out. "Like one of those fraternity ones. Your fraternity had one of those, right?"

Ryan laughs. "Officially, it was decorative, but uh, unofficially, yeah, we totally did. That thing was huge!" He glances over to the camera. "Cesar, you can't put that in the video. We'll get fucking sued for implying that they still have hazing," he says, speaking straight to their editor. Yeah, Legal would probably stop him, but just in case… He looks back toward Shane. 

"How bad was it?" Shane asks, sounding genuinely interested. "I mean, I've seen Animal House…"

Ryan laughs. "No one made me say, 'Thank you sir, may I have another!' I mean, it wasn't great, but I lived."

"Yeah, but it hurt, right?" Shane says, and Ryan swears he hears a hint of fascination in the other man's voice. 

"Well yeah, getting spanked hurts," Ryan says. "Did you not get spanked when you were a kid?" Ryan is surprised by that; Shane is a few years older than him, and Ryan kind of assumed as a matter of course that anyone older than him was also spanked as a child. 

Shane says. "No... We got grounded."

"That makes a lot of sense actually," Ryan says, eyebrows rising with a little glance towards the camera. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Shane demands jokingly.

"I mean, you don't act like a guy who got spanked as a child and it shows. Mouthy, utterly fearless, disrespectful to the living," Ryan gestures at himself, "and the dead," with a gesture to their surroundings. He’s making it a little dramatic to give them all space to play while editing.

"Don't forget the undead," Shane adds in his best demonic voice, bringing up his hands and wiggling his fingers to suggest claws.

Ryan rolls his eyes. "See, there you go again. Jesus, if anyone's ever needed a good spanking, it's probably you!"

There is a short stretch of silence before Shane lets out a giggle, followed by muffled offscreen giggles from Devon and TJ (but thankfully not Mark). Ryan realizes how weirdly inappropriate his words sound, and damn it, he'll need to do some serious editing on this one. They don’t need to give gift-wrapped ammunition of sorts to their fans.

As if Shane hears his thoughts and decides to do that contrary _Shane _thing he always does, Shane deadpans, "Well, damn, Ryan. Are _you _gonna spank me then?"

Ryan feels his face heat up and is grateful for his tanned skin and the low light that will hide the worst of it. That is one of those Shane lines that would set the internet on _fire._

He knows that too many fans write about them screwing each other's brains out or conducting the romance of the century, but that isn't how it is between them. They are great friends, close to the point that people sometimes mistake them for a couple when they hang out together, but there isn't anything sexual happening there.

Even his ex-girlfriend had sometimes teased him about his "boyfriend, Shane," although she hadn't been sincere about it. And Shane doesn't even bother to deny it when people refer to Ryan as, "Shane's Ryan," the same way Sara is "Shane's Sara." (There are a fair amount of Ryans and Saras at BuzzFeed and they need distinguishing somehow.)

He doesn’t _hate _being "Shane's Ryan," but he also never knows what to say when people call him that. Every now and again, though, he ends up saying something that sounds suspiciously like they are dating, and he always trips over himself trying to clarify, not wanting to feed the fans' dirty minds. In this case...

"Shut up, Shane," he manages.

Shane's rebuttal is cut off by a loud bang, and Ryan's head jerks towards the noise. "What the fuck?" he demands. Shane lets out a clear, startled laugh. "... Is all I have to say to that." His heart is really picking up the pace now.

"They don't like the thumb talk," Shane says mildly.

Ryan, hoping to move past the awkwardness of the _spanking _talk, makes jokes about the thumb talk until there is another bang. They can’t really ignore that. So they decide to check out the noise, which redirects everything nicely for the moment.

* * *

When filming finally wraps at the Ohio State Penitentiary, they are beyond ready to return to the hotel. They technically checked in last night but haven't actually slept there yet. It is nearing 5 in the morning, and everyone is exhausted and covered in a fine layer of grime from the prison. 

BuzzFeed will only pay for so many rooms, so while Devon gets her own room by the sheer luck of being the only woman, TJ and Mark are sharing one room while Shane and Ryan share another. They part ways in the elevator with the plan to sleep until at least noon and find their own meals once they wake up.

Shane pulls the key card from his wallet and lets them into the room. They won't check out for over 24 hours, so he grabs the "Do Not Disturb" sign from the closet and hangs it outside the door so the housekeeping staff won’t wake them. Ryan says, "I call dibs on first shower," and because he'd looked so rattled in the prison, Shane doesn’t even give a token protest. Instead, he sits at the desk chair to avoid getting prison dirt on the bedspread and sleepily scrolls through his phone. He sends a quick text to his (probably sleeping, maybe up late) girlfriend to let her know the shoot went well and he doesn’t think he's contracted hepatitis. She never wakes up for text messages anyway, being a heavy sleeper. Then he mindlessly scrolls through Instagram and waits for Ryan to get out of the shower.

Finally, he hears the shower stop. He plugs his phone into the charger on the nightstand and grabs his pajamas from his suitcase. Ryan comes out wearing navy blue sweats, his hair damp and hanging down in his eyes.

"All yours, man," he says.

Shane walks into the warm humidity of the bathroom and quickly peels himself out of his dirty clothing. He turns on the water, which is still hot, and steps into the tub.

He lazily rubs shampoo into his hair and thinks about the shoot. Ryan had, as usual, gotten worked up over nothing. He snorts, thinking of the look on the other man's face when that bang had startled them both. Poor Ryan had nearly jumped out of his skin.

His thoughts turn to the conversation right before it. It is fun to poke at Ryan, because Ryan gets so defensive. Shane's posit that being hung by your thumbs would be better than being paddled is, frankly, kind of ridiculous. Even though he's never experienced either, it seems like common sense.

Even nowadays, people spank children, but only a monster would hang a kid by their thumbs. 

Still, Ryan's assertion that Shane is the one who needs a spanking is bouncing around in his brain now, and he can’t seem to shake it.

Shane has never had much interest in BDSM. He knows about it, of course. For one thing, he works at BuzzFeed. The Try Guys had attempted, once upon a time, to recruit him into a video trying it. He had politely but vehemently declined. But any millennial worth their salt knows at least a little bit about it, the internet being what it is. He’d tried watching BDSM porn, but it hadn't done much for him, because seeing people in pain isn't sexy to him. And while he and his girlfriend do some mildly kinky things every now and again, the closest thing to a spanking he's ever gotten is a joking slap to the ass.

_If anyone's ever needed a good spanking, it's you, _he mulls in his head. It had struck his funny bone, because it had sounded stupid as hell the way Ryan had said it, and even in the dark, he'd clearly seen his best friend and co-creator wince at his own words. (They have both run into some questionable fanfiction at various times. Apparently, everyone is just dying to see them fuck.) And Shane, being who he is, had pushed it a little, because making fun of Ryan is basically his favorite thing to do.

He'll have to cut it out before they get too far into the editing, though. He can only imagine the wicked fanfiction their teenage fans will create if they hear Ryan say anything about spanking him.

He rinses off the soap and turns off the shower. In a minute, he is damply dry and wearing sweatpants and an old grey tee shirt. He leaves the bathroom and walks out to the sink, where he quickly brushes his teeth before turning towards the beds.

Ryan is on the bed closer to the window. He’s curled on his side towards the center of the room, probably because that is the only place he can lay and charge his phone at the same time. By the dim glow of the phone, Shane can see him blinking sleepily.

Shane walks over to the open bed and crawls in, limbs feeling heavy with the need for sleep. "You wanna set an alarm?" he asks Ryan.

"Mmhmm," Ryan confirms. "It's about five thirty. 12:30 work for you, or you want to push for a full eight hours?"

"I don't mind either way," Shane says. They aren’t even meeting up to drive to location until 4pm, but neither he nor Ryan are the kind of people who usually get a full 8 hours, so he'll take what he can get.

Ryan taps at his screen a few times. "Alright, set. 'Night, buddy."

"Good night," Shane replies, letting his eyelids shut. "Don't let the little ghosties bite."

A pillow hits him in the face, which he steals and tucks under his head. Ryan grumbles something under his breath about Shane being an asshole before letting out a deep, beleaguered sigh.

The click of the lamp between their beds turning off accompanies Shane into sleep.

* * *

Ryan finally sets down his phone once Shane starts breathing in a slow, deep rhythm. He lays in the dark, eyes closed, but he doesn’t feel ready to sleep despite his exhaustion.

For one thing, no matter what Shane says, he thinks the evidence at 'Dracula's Castle' was compelling. As soon as they'd approached, Ryan had felt on edge, as though he were being watched by the eyes of hundreds of prisoners. Shane, of course, claimed he'd felt no such thing, which made Ryan a little snappy and irritable. Yeah, maybe the weird banging noises had come from the wind and an old cabinet, but he doesn’t think that the voice in the chapel or the chill that had reached down his spine in solitary confinement had any solidly natural explanations, no matter what Shane thinks.

Even thinking about that voice causes the hair on the back of his neck to prickle. He shudders and pulls his blankets tighter around himself. He wishes he were more like Shane, who is nearly unflappable. Yes, that is likely due to his die-hard skepticism, which Ryan neither possesses nor wants, but when he is awake and wondering if an unfriendly spirit has latched onto him and followed him back to the hotel…well, it is hard to watch Shane sleep like a baby.

There is a thump from the room next door that makes Ryan jump. Stupid. This is a regular, chain, un-haunted Marriott, and that is probably the sound of someone dropping a suitcase against the wall. But he can't help but tense, waiting for the sound of anything unusual.

After a few minutes, he starts to relax again. It will probably be a pretty good episode. They’ve already filmed another episode in Ohio and will do one more tomorrow before finally getting back on the plane and returning to Los Angeles, where there is at least sunshine, and you can easily walk around in a sweater at this time of year. He'd probably been a little too snippy with Shane tonight, but honestly, their friendship is equal parts asshole one-liners and honest affection, so he doesn’t feel that bad. It’s really a thing of give and take with them.

He’s starting to feel sleepier when a soft stream of cold air brushes across his face. His hair stands straight up. Immediately, Ryan jolts upright, reaching for the light and clicking it on so hard that the shade shakes. "Shane?" he says aloud, despite knowing that his friend is asleep.

Shane snuffles slightly. "You ok?" he mumbles sleepily.

Ryan takes a shaky breath. "I, uh...I felt something," he says, hating the words as they leave his mouth. Poor Shane has maybe been asleep for twenty minutes if that. 

Shane opens the eye that is not smashed against his pillow. "Ry…" he says.

"Dude, I know," he says. Of course that doesn’t freak Shane out--nothing freaks Shane out. "But…I really felt something.". He isn’t going to say, out loud, that he’s scared. But he knows that Shane knows exactly what’s wrong.

Shane sighs. "You wanna sleep with me?" he asks. 

Ryan hesitates for a split-second, that part of him that urges him towards machismo mocking him for wanting to be closer to Shane, who is safe and has never allowed a ghost or demon to harm him. But it isn’t like they’ve never shared a bed. Hell, it isn’t even the first time Shane has offered to let Ryan sleep next to him while he’s keyed up post-shoot. Shane’s only real demand is, “Shut the fuck up and go to sleep, because I'm tired." And Ryan can handle that.

Shane never seems to worry about his masculinity like Ryan does. Maybe as a tall white guy, he has less to prove?

Whatever. They are friends. It isn't _that _weird.

"Yeah," Ryan replies, his voice slightly sheepish. 

In response, Shane rolls to the other side of the bed, taking his pillows with him. Ryan grabs his pillow and transfers across the narrow gap between the beds, curling up in the warm spot Shane left behind in the blankets.

"Thanks, man," he says quietly. He can sense Shane's back inches away from his own, and even without touching that feels safer than being alone on the other mattress.

"Mmhmm," Shane murmurs, already clearly falling back into sleep.

Ryan turns the light off once more and lays in the dark listening to Shane's deep, even breathing. And slowly, without even noticing, he falls asleep.

* * *

Something about returning to LA makes the rumination worse. Although Shane is supposed to be editing his alone time yelling at the dark and dusty walls, he ends up looking through the interview between himself and Ryan at the Ohio State Penitentiary because, well…it’s stuck in his head, like the worst of earworms.

He'd had a dream about it, for one thing, a dream that had been weird mostly because it hadn't seemed that weird while he was dreaming it. In it, Ryan had told him that he was going to spank him, and Shane had rolled with it, in the way one does in dreams. Ryan had gotten a comically large fraternity paddle from somewhere and had convinced Shane to bend over while all their coworkers watched. The only part that had been weird, until he'd woken up at least and realized that the whole thing was weird as hell, was that the experience was completely painless, which hadn't been what Shane had expected. And then he'd woken up next to Sara, laughed a little at his own, stupid brain, and gone back to sleep. 

But even awake, it is just there. As a concept. And like a sore tooth, he can't stop prodding at it.

So now, he is watching that set-up scene again, trying to come to terms with the weird fascination he has that Ryan had been spanked as a kid and how painful that might be. He wonders if he even has a good frame of reference with which to compare it. Shane isn’t by nature a fighter, and especially not the kind who might fight physically. He has a quick wit and occasionally might say something a little biting, but that is pretty much as far as he goes. As a kid, he'd done the kind of joking fighting that teenage boys were prone to doing between friends. But as an easy-going person with a tendency towards minding his own business, he’s never really gotten hit.

He watches Ryan's laughing face explain that fraternity paddlings don’t really go down like they did in _Animal House, _and himself curiously pushing for details (which is a little weird, Shane can admit) before Ryan asks him if he'd ever been spanked as a kid. And then the part that started him thinking about this whole thing way too much.

"I mean, you don't act like a guy who got spanked as a child and it shows," says Ryan, looking a little disapproving, which Shane finds utterly fascinating. Ryan's hands are going as he elaborates. "Mouthy, utterly fearless, disrespectful to the living and the dead--"

"Don't forget the undead," Shane watches himself interrupt, and Ryan actually rolls his eyes. 

"See, there you go again. Jesus, if anyone's ever needed a good spanking, it's probably you!"

It's probably you!

_It's probably you._

He needs to talk to someone about this.

* * *

Ryan doesn’t really think about it until he starts working on the editing.

As he watches his way through the scene-setting interview at the holding cell in the Ohio State Penitentiary, he starts to feel his face getting red with embarrassment. He isn’t like Shane, who seems physically incapable of feeling shame and embarrassment under basically any circumstances, and he can't help but mentally berate himself for his word choice. There was no need to share his kinks with the world.

It is honestly a funny interview. His instinct to give Shane a taste of what it might feel like to be hung by his thumbs had given them a great physical bit in there, and some careful editing can probably preserve Shane's insane belief that being hung by your thumbs would suck less than getting a spanking without having to…ugh…include the part where Ryan sounded like a weirdo who wanted to spank his best friend. Because that sounds like the beginning of a very cheesy porno. 

And if he thinks so, he knows their fans, especially the younger ones, will probably lose their damn minds.

But as he continues to splice the footage into a compelling narrative, he has to watch bits of it over and over.

"Did you not get spanked when you were a kid?" he watches his own, surprised face say from two angles. He chooses the one that shows him in profile, because the mild fascination on his face doesn’t show up anywhere near as strongly. He had just kind of assumed that pretty much everyone who had been born before the 2000s got spanked as a child. Hell, even now parents still spank their kids. His little cousins have a healthy fear of _la chancla,_ and Ryan does too. Yes, even now. His _abuela _is not to be trifled with.

There is a large swath that has to be entirely removed from the middle of the conversation too. He knows Legal won’t like any indication that his fraternity had performed technically illegal hazing on its members, whether it was true or not, because that is a giant can of worms, so any mention of the fraternity gets scrubbed. And that was the conversation that had led into Ryan's stupid, face-burning word blunder. He cuts it out and immediately feels better. 

Everyone says dumb shit, but that doesn’t mean it has to be posted on the internet. He knows leaving it in will drive up engagement, but he just can't do it. Engagement is great, but so are the tattered shreds of Ryan's dignity. The less people he has to share this gaffe with, the better.

At least, he consoles himself, Shane and the crew are pretty used to Ryan saying the dumbest of shit. Shane will often join in, even, because nothing embarrasses him, and he likes to push the envelope.

That is obviously why he'd asked if Ryan was going to spank him in that dry, joking way of his. Dude never can just leave well enough alone.

* * *

Shane is stirring the vegetable curry on the stovetop when he says, "Don't take this the wrong way, because I love you so much, but I think I want Ryan to beat my ass."

Sara is scoping rice from the rice cooker onto two plates, but she pauses momentarily. "Like porn or like _Fight Club_?" she asks. She loves Shane, and in a different way, loves Ryan too. You can't really love Shane unless you love Ryan, because the pair are pretty inseparable. 

A thin tendril of jealousy tries to climb her spine, but she ruthlessly squashes it. They are all adults here, and she strongly believes that everyone has a right to ask for what they want and need and set their own boundaries. Luckily, Shane believes that too. It means they do a lot of talking.

However, this particular conversation isn’t one they've ever had before.

"Not porn, but not the club we don't talk about either," Shane says. Sara finishes portioning the rice and puts the plates where Shane can easily dish them both up. "Just out of a semi-morbid curiosity of how it would feel if I got...if he spanked me, I guess. Like a punishment."

Sara cocks her head. "You wanna get punished?" she asks carefully. Shane wobbles his head from side to side, which morphs into a cautious nod. This is new--she's never known Shane to be bothered by an overabundance of guilt. "Specifically by Ryan?"

Shane gives a one-shoulder shrug. "Kind of? I mean, if he was willing."

Sara can't help but ask, "What for, though? What did you do?"

Shane shrugs and ladles curry over both beds of rice and hands one to Sara. "Nothing, really," he replies. They go to sit on the couch. 

"Okay," Sara tries to process. "What even brought this up?"

Shane takes a slow bite and chews as he considers. "On location in Ohio, we were talking about what was worse, getting spanked or getting hung by your thumbs--"

"No contest there," Sara points out. Shane nods in acknowledgment.

"--and Ryan says he thought I needed a good spanking because 'I don't act like a guy who got spanked as a child and it shows,' and uh, now I keep thinking about it."

"In like, a sexy way? Or just curiosity because somehow, despite all the dumb things you did as a child, no one ever smacked you for it?"

Shane shrugs. "I mean, not in a sexy way. If that was what I was going for, I'd ask you." Sara can't help the little smile that comes to her face at that. Her imagination sparks an image of her tiny 5'4 frame trying to spank her 6'4 boyfriend. Not impossible, of course, and if he wanted that, she'd be willing to try, but it is a funny picture. "I just kind of want to see what he's talking about."

Sara lets out a genuine laugh. The boys can be so dumb sometimes. "Well, not like you need my blessing or anything, but if you're curious about it, go right ahead. But uh, what if it gets sexy?" She'd been spanked as a kid, and only remembers it as being painful and somewhat scary. But for adults, at least in her mind, it doesn’t seem impossible that such a loaded activity could turn into…something that might actually turn someone on. Still, Shane is an adult; he can make his own bad decisions. She and Shane love each other, and at the end of the day, that is the most important thing. "Could make things weird between you guys."

"I don't think it'll work that way, but if it did…" Shane seems to be considering it. "I don't know. What would you like me to do should the situation arise?"

"So we're calling your penis, "the situation" now, are we?" Sara asks, smirking.

Shane snorts and shakes his head. "We most definitely are not."

"Mm-hmm," Sara says in a voice that implies the opposite. She takes a moment to think about her comfort with this. "I suppose I'm cool with making out and whatever, but if a dick is going inside another person's body, that's something I need some time to consider."

Shane raises his eyebrows. "I, uh, truly do not see that as a concern," he points out. "So far, I've kept dick feelings far away from my general feelings about my best friend. I just want to find out how a platonic, unsexy spanking feels because I'm 32 years old and that's something I just don't know. It feels like an important knowledge gap that I should probably, you know, rectify."

"Are you going to make a video about it? I bet you'd get lots of views…" she teases. "'Adults get spanked for the first time,' maybe?"

Shane looks at her. "Seriously?" he says. "And also, hell no. You think some of those little fangirls and fanboys are rabid now...

"I was just looking out for them," she says. "They'll be sad they missed it. I, on the other hand, only want to see the damage on your skinny butt after the fact." She looks at him with a little glint in her eye and teases, "But if you change your mind about wanting to fuck him, or wanting him to fuck you, or whatever, you better tell me beforehand so I can come too." She gives an over-exaggerated wink, but the tension in her stomach has subsided with that little weed of jealousy. 

Shane laughs. "Baby, you can come right now if you want to," he says, pretending to leer. He leans over to kiss her. 

She nibbles gently on his lower lip, which tastes like curry. "After dinner, I'll take you up on it at least once," she replies sweetly.

Dinner is a quick affair.

* * *

It is several weeks later, and their Ohio State Penitentiary video has to be in by 9am. Another editor, Cesar, gets it for a while, and he'll do quality control and make sure the narrative is cohesive and fits the Unsolved "brand." Then Legal gets it for a final look-thru to make sure there weren't any gaffes that might get BuzzFeed in real trouble. If there are, it goes back to Cesar to fix, then back to Legal. Once Legal signs off, it can actually be published.

Because of the deadline, Ryan and Shane have been cemented to their seats long after most of their co-workers have left in droves, heading out for happy hour or just plain old home. Sara had stopped by earlier to kiss Shane and let him know she was taking their car. Shane had nodded and said he'd get an Uber later.

Ryan knows the building isn't completely empty and is technically open to producers basically whenever they want, but there’s only a skeleton crew left behind. They are the only ones left in their particular seating pod, desperately trying to throw some finishing touches down before it is swept out of their hands.

Shane stretches his long, thin arms high in the air. A series of interesting, nearly musical crackles and pops come from his spine and hands. Then Shane turns to him and says, "I'm starving. Wanna split a pizza?"

Ryan sighs and leans back dramatically in his chair. "Hell yeah, get me the usual." He stretches as well, even standing to do a couple squats and lunges just to get the blood moving again. It is always near the deadline when his inner perfectionist turns into an outer perfectionist and finds a million different changes that he should probably make. This means he does a lot of sitting on deadline days.

Shane, old hat at this situation, finishes putting the order into the app on his phone. "They'll text me once the delivery guy gets here," he says.

Ryan is frowning at the screen again, feeling a little frustrated. It looks good, it is fine…but something is niggling at him that it isn't quite right, and he can't figure out what it is. He just can’t seem to 'release' the episode from his head yet.

"I think it looks good," Shane offers, his tone sincere. "Cesar can take it from here, don't you think?" He is slightly cajoling.

Ryan sighs. "It looks good, but I'm not sure it's exactly right," he says. 

"I'll make you a deal," Shane says. "You can putz with it until the pizza gets here, and then we're gonna take a break, clear our heads, eat, and then come back to it if needed. But staring at the same screen for ages and ages isn't going to help you. Okay?"

Ryan can see the logic in that. "Fine," he says. He clicks at the same clip of footage he's been editing back and forth for the last hour and clips several seconds, listening to see if it flows better.

It really doesn't. He returns to the alternate footage. 

Usually, he knows when an episode is done, but this one just isn't there yet. He figures he has about half an hour to make it work, and he'll need every minute.

Shane feels his phone buzz in his pocket, and a quick check reveals it to be the pizza guy. He'll have to walk to the front to get the pizza. 

"Alright, Ryan, it's break time," he says, clapping a hand on his friend's shoulder. He feels them heave with a sigh. 

"Ok, ok," he says, pulling off his headphones and dropping them on his desk.

"Come with me to grab the pizza," Shane suggests. "I think we both need to stretch our legs a little anyway."

Ryan grumbles a little but stands up. They walk in companionable quiet to the front desk, where their pizza is waiting. Johanna, who works security, already sent the delivery person away, and she hands the pizza box off with a cheery, "Don't work too hard now, boys!"

Shane carries the pizza, which is wafting heat and the scent of cheesy, tomato-ey goodness into his face. "Wanna go eat on set?" he asks. "Maybe it will kick up some editing inspiration." And also, it is a good, quiet place to talk to Ryan about his new, weird curiosity that just won't go away. His proposition, as it were.

He still isn't completely sure how to bring it up, but Sara gave her blessing, so to speak, so he feels mostly prepared.

Ryan nods. "Sure, worth a try. God knows sitting at my desk for hours hasn't knocked anything loose."

So they wander to the _Unsolved_ set on Stage 1, which is the semi-permanent "office" setup specifically for _Unsolved_. _Ladylike_ has one too, over in 7. The "library" set is just down the hall. The best thing is that because the office set is a goddamn_ bear _to put up and tear down, they have their own stage and don’t have to share it with other producers, which is a blessing in and of itself.

Shane knows Ryan thinks it is a little cramped, but to Shane, 'cozy' is a better word. They just have a lot of things crammed in here.

They sit at their respective places at the desk in the 'office'--almost as though they are filming--and dig into the pizza. The pizza, a greasy thin-crust covered in layers of cheese and various meats, takes all of their attention for a few minutes. Internally though, Shane is musing. He really wants to figure out a way to bring this up without creeping out his best friend. Because ever since he'd gotten the green light from his girlfriend, his weird brain loop has been loop-de-looping for all it has, and frankly, he’s been distracted by it.

What a stupid thing for his brain to get caught up on.

Ryan sighs, breaking into the loop of his thoughts. "I'm gonna have to spend an extra hour in the gym tomorrow," he says, patting his taut belly as though half a pizza might have instantly changed it to a bloated blob. For the record, it looks the same as ever. 

Shane shrugs. "Looks fine, dude. Drink a little water and eat something green tomorrow, and that'd fix it just the same."

Ryan wrinkles his nose. "Where's the fun in that?" 

Shane doesn’t really understand that, because sports and fitness aren't his thing. Ryan, on the other hand, likes the competitive nature of the gym. Once a jock, always a jock, Shane supposes.

As Ryan chews his last slice of pizza, Shane contemplates. This is honestly, as good a time for this particular proposition as any. If Ryan isn't down, they'll basically finish their editing and Shane can go home, call in sick tomorrow, and let the weirdness settle. After the weekend, it will probably be close enough to normal that the internet at large at least won’t notice that the Ghoulboys were a little "off."

And if it lands, well… It’s late, no one is around, and they are in a private, basically soundproof place. 

Ryan sighs in a satisfied way, and Shane makes up his mind. He stands up and scoots his chair to the opposite side of the desk to be face to face with Ryan. Ryan raises an eyebrow.

"I put on deodorant this morning, you know," he jokes. Shane shakes his head.

"Nah, that's not it. I've got a weird question to ask you, and preemptively, I'm asking you to let me explain before you freak out, alright?"

Ryan's dark eyes pop to his, suddenly laser-sharp. "What did you do, Shane?" His tone is a little tense, as though he is unsure if Shane is starting a bit or if he needs to be mad.

"Take a breath, man. I didn’t do anything yet." He watches as Ryan takes a deep breath.

"Alright. Hit me, dude," he says with that hint of bravado that only comes out when Ryan is actually nervous but trying not to show it.

Shit. That wasn’t what Shane had meant to do. But at this point, the only way out is through.

"At the penitentiary, you and I got into that conversation about what would be worse, being hung by your thumbs or paddled," Shane says. He looks at Ryan, whose head is down, poking at the crust of his last slice. That gives Shane nothing to work with, so he presses on. "I know it was a goofy bit for the camera--"

"I think it turned out funny," Ryan interrupts, sounding mildly defensive "It better have, after all I had to edit it." He looks up at Shane now, daring him to complain about the editing.

"The editing's great," Shane says. It really is. Ryan had managed to pull a funny narrative out of their babbling without dropping anything too inappropriate in there, and the cuts look very natural. "I've got no complaints about that, you did a good job man."

Ryan looks a little less anxious. "You think so?" 

"Sincerely," Shane assures. He leans forward a little. 

Ryan leans slightly towards Shane. This, Shane notes, is at least a good sign. Mirroring body language and all that.

"I wasn't actually joking when I told you my parents never spanked me. Literally, I'm an actual, grown adult who has never, ever been spanked in any capacity," he says.

Ryan smirks slightly. "Oh, I definitely believe that, buddy. You're way too much of a cocky asshole to have ever had a healthy fear of _la chancla._ I'm surprised I never put it together before."

Shane knows he's heard the word "_ la chancla _" before somewhere, but unfortunately, his rudimentary Spanish knowledge isn't helping here. Context tells him it is probably some kind of spanking…weapon? Implement? Tool? He isn't sure what the correct word is.

Shane takes a deep breath. "I want to see what it's like. Now is when it's gonna get weird, but hear me out, ok?" he says, looking Ryan in the eyes. He sees, therefore, the moment that Ryan freezes like a proverbial deer in the headlights as he says, "I want you to spank me. If you're willing."

After a long, startled pause, Ryan lets out the most uncomfortable giggle that Shane had ever heard from his friend. "Dude, I… What the fu… That seems like something that should be between you and Sara, man, not you and me!" He actually leans back in his chair, his eyes closing. Embarrassed redness is climbing his face. "You're insane!"

Alright, well Ryan didn’t actually run away at least. It seems like a positive start.

"Sara's my _girlfriend_," Shane says. "But I'm not curious about a, you know, sexy kind of spanking, and if she's doing it, I'm pretty sure it qualifies as sexy. I want to see what it's like to get spanked like those prisoners might have--like a, a punishment."

Ryan opens his eyes again, and now he is looking straight at Shane. "You want a punishment spanking?" he asks. "Just like, to see what it's like?" His voice has taken on a slightly different note, but one Shane can’t read.

Shane nods. 

Ryan's gaze is intense. "Are you fucking with me, dude?" he asks. 

Shane shakes his head. "No. I'm serious. I've, uh, it's been on my mind." 

Ryan seems to be searching his face for something. "Don't take this the wrong way, but uh, is this, like, a come on?" He looks uncomfortable in that vague way he always does when anything happens that doesn’t seem 100% heterosexual in nature. 

It is amazing he can make it through a day at BuzzFeed, really. Shane knows Ryan isn't homophobic, but he has strong internal rules about acceptable masculine behavior, especially his own.

Shane likes to poke at them sometimes, because he doesn’t think they are particularly healthy and also, because it can be funny to watch Ryan deal with his cognitive dissonance.

He'll break him of them yet. Not that he’s doing this for that; Shane's curiosity feels pretty selfish today.

Shane just calmly shakes his head in response to Ryan's quiet question. "Nah. It's just...curiosity, I think. Morbid fascination? I don't know exactly, but it's not about, you know, sexy stuff."

Ryan blinks. "I mean, we're adults, Shane. Any time you spank an adult, there's at least, uh, sexy potential there." His voice sounds a little strangled. "Just so you know that's a thing."

This is new information. "You've given a sexy spanking?" Shane asks. He needs to process this. Apparently, he and Ryan don’t know everything about each other yet, despite hours spent together doing _Unsolved._

Ryan smirks and nods but looks away. This _really _isn't the kind of conversations they have, generally. "This is fucking weird, dude," he says. "Never really thought I'd be talking about this with you."

"Yeah," Shane says. "Yeah, it's kinda weird." He looks at Ryan, who is not looking Shane in the face. "But I can't stop thinking about what it would be like, to the point that I'm obsessing, and it's making me insane." He sighs. "And I trust you and figured you were strong enough to beat it out of me but also way safer than hitting up some random on the internet. Because I don't want it to be a sex thing, and I figured I was safe with you." He pauses for a second and sees that Ryan is thinking hard. "And also, I don't particularly want this to get out. We've got fans old enough to be on Tinder or whatever dating app the youngsters are using nowadays. Seems like a real risk."

At this, Ryan's gaze locks onto Shane's and his eyes narrow. "Dating app? Oh my God, Shane. Does Sara know about this?" Ryan sounds suddenly pissed. 

It takes Shane a second to realize why, and once he does, it actually makes his heart clench pleasantly in his chest. 

"Aw, Ryan," he says earnestly. "I love that you're watching out for Sara. You're a good friend. But yes, of course she knows. She gave her blessing for me to ask you."

Ryan's lips thin slightly. "You sure about that?" 

Shane nods, unperturbed, but Ryan still looks suspicious. "So you wouldn't mind if I called her?" Ryan demands.

Shane makes a gesture with his hand to signify, _Go ahead._ Still watching him intensely, Ryan pulls out his phone and types something quickly, then holds it to his ear.

"Hey Sara, I know you hate calls, but I have to ask you something about your idiot boyfriend," he says, his eyes boring into Shane like he thinks he might be calling his friend's bluff. Shane can’t keep the stupid half-smile off his face. "This is awkward as fuck, but did he tell you he wanted me to, uh, spank his ass?"

He can’t hear Sara on the other end of the phone, but the mix of facial expressions that flash over Ryan's face are enough to get the gist. It probably helps that he and Sara had discussed it recently.

"Uh… Maybe?" Ryan says. He licks his lips somewhat nervously. "You're ok with it? Anything you aren't, uh, ok with?"

And then Ryan chokes on his own spit. 

"That's definitely not a thing that's happening Sara. No, not even then."

God help him, he really loves that girl.

"Uh, ok. I just…" Ryan's voice softens a little. "I was gonna actually kill him if he was sneaking around. ‘Cause you don't deserve that."

Shane can feel his heart melting stupidly in his chest. Ryan is too fucking pure, and Sara is awesome, and he is so grateful to have them in his life. It’s making him sappy.

"No, we're uh, still at work...I dunno. Any ideas?" There is a pause as he listens.

Ryan laughs at her response. "Alright. Go back to your _Bob's Burgers _then and have a good night. I'll uh… I'll make sure he gets back to you in one piece. Ok. Bye."

He sets his phone down and looks contemplatively at Shane. "So, I guess Sara does know and is cool with the idea, which is good because I absolutely would have curb-stomped your ass on her behalf," Ryan says. 

Shane smiles. "That's sweet, but trust me, Sara doesn't need anyone to stand up for her honor. Woman's got it on lock."

Ryan shakes his head. "'Course she doesn't _need _it. I'd just do it for the principle of the thing."

He takes a ridiculously deep breath. "And, uh, I have to admit that after watching that footage for more than a week straight, I've uh… I've thought about it. You get that fucking obnoxious, know-it-all look on your face and it just makes me want to take you down a peg."

"Down a peg or not, I'll still be taller than you," Shane replies, nearly automatically.

"See, that," Ryan says, and suddenly he rises to his feet, looming over Shane. Shane finds himself transfixed as Ryan stares down at him, his arms folded across his chest in a way that emphasizes his muscles. Shane has a moment of, _Holy shit, if he spanks me it's really going to fucking hurt, _and his heart beats a little faster, because that is actually scary. He suddenly feels kind of small. "That's what I mean. You're a little brat who just happens to be in a six-foot-four body that's mostly legs!"

Shane feels himself hunker down as an unfamiliar flash of something suspiciously close to anxiety burns across his chest. "You may have a point," he concedes, still watching Ryan.

Ryan sighs and drops his arms, and suddenly he no longer looks terrifying. It’s just his good friend, Ryan Bergara.

"You know this is still a scene, even if it's not about, uh, sex stuff, right?" Ryan asks, taking a seat.

"A scene?" Shane says. "We're...we aren't _filming _this, Ryan."

Ryan actually laughs at that. "Yeah, no shit dude," he replies. "Not that kind of scene. Like a, a BDSM scene." The faintest hint of redness tinges Ryan's cheeks. "You know what that is, right?"

Those words could have sounded derisive, and if they had been doing a bit for a camera, they probably would have. But Ryan's voice is steady and even, almost but not quite narrative.

"Oh!" Shane can hear his own surprise. Nope, that hadn't occurred to him. Sue him, he isn't well-educated about BDSM...but apparently Ryan is? "Yeah, I, uh, of course I know what a BDSM scene is," he says. "I do live on the internet like any good millennial." He swallows. "Are you sure this counts?"

Ryan's eyes are fond. "Yeah, I'm sure," he says. "Any time there's a power exchange--and if I'm spanking you, that's a power exchange--I'd classify that as a scene. Does that idea bother you?"

Shane considers for a minute, and Ryan patiently lets him. The idea of doing a "scene" with his best friend definitely seems weird, especially on the face of it. The only context he has for that kind of thing is pornographic in nature, which definitely isn't what he is looking for. 

His brain very helpfully replays the footage he's been contemplating since that night in Ohio. Ryan's outburst, and the way it had shocked him into ridiculous giggles (along with the crew). That stupid dream he's had several variations of since. The unstoppable perseveration about what a spanking even feels like, and Sara's warning, "That shit hurts, Shane. I mean, do what you want but just remember that I told you so. Maybe if you're nice I'll get you an ice pack after."

But Shane is like cat, in that he has often been one to let curiosity get the best of him. 

"I think I'm ok with it," he says finally, looking back to Ryan. 

Ryan meets his eyes. "Alright," he says deliberately. "I'm in. But we're gonna talk this out before anything happens, got it?"

Shane nods.

* * *

From the moment he buys in, Ryan takes charge. Executive produces, some might say. He wouldn't call himself an expert in BDSM or anything, but he is a switch, and a good one, able to be on either side of a scene depending on what he and his scene partner(s) need. He is also the only one here that has working knowledge about doing a scene that doesn’t come from dubious sources on the internet or _50 Shades of Grey._

He takes a deep breath. "What exactly are you hoping to get out of this, Shane?"

Shane answers in that deliberate way he has. "Knowledge, I suppose. After all that shit we talked about, it just seemed unbelievable that I've never experienced something as relatively universal as physical punishment." 

"Mmhm," Ryan murmurs. He isn't sure if Shane is telling the whole truth, but that certainly has to be part of it at least. He wonders if his own asshole behavior that night in Ohio had made Shane feel like he'd done something wrong, like Ryan was angry at him. "You keep saying 'punishment.' You think you deserve to be punished, or is it more to do with the fact that we were talking about punishment when this came up?"

"I mean, you made it sound like you think I deserve it, so maybe I do" Shane continues, and Ryan makes a mental note. "I just...I dunno. Have you ever had a preoccupation, and the more you tried to get over it, the more you just…can't?"

Ryan smiled wryly. His whole life is a series of preoccupations at varying levels of intensity. "You know the answer to that one," he says.

"Yeah, exactly," Shane replies, but he has a little smile too. "I figured you'd be sympathetic."

"And what do you want from me?"

"I mean, I want you to spank me," Shane says, and internally, Ryan marvels that Shane's pale skin doesn’t even flush. Nothing embarrasses this man. 

"Yeah, I got that part buddy," Ryan says, his voice teasing. "I'm talking on a deeper level here. You have a mental picture in your head of whatever you think you're going to get from this exchange. You have to use your words and tell me." Ryan studies Shane's calm, thinking face and decides to try to guide him. "Do you want to obey or submit? You want to fight me over it? You wanna cry?" Shane just blinks contemplatively. "You said something about seeing what might have happened to those prisoners if being paddled was an option over the thumb thing. Is that what you're wanting here? Or just to experience the physical feeling of it, without any kind of roles to play?" He pauses, because Shane hasn't really reacted strongly to any of those. "Or something else?"

Shane looks up at him. "You've done this a lot," he notes.

Ryan smiles slightly. "Done it enough," he says. "It's definitely not my first rodeo."

Shane nods. "I see that," he says. "Do you...I don't actually know what the hell I want, Ryan. I am suddenly realizing that I know even less than I thought, and I didn’t think I knew that much in the first place."

He looks suddenly shy, which isn't generally a look Shane gets. "I'm getting paralyzed by the choices here," he admits quietly. "Can you...You know that I trust you. Can you just pick something?"

Shane's words are like a pleasant punch to the gut, leaving him breathless with his affection for his friend. That kind of trust is a pretty rare thing, and it makes him want to live up to it. "Yeah, big guy," he says, his voice soft. "I'll take care of you. Try to take a breath and relax."

They don’t tend to be overly touchy people, mostly because it makes Ryan a little uncomfortable, but if this is going to happen, it has to start somewhere. And as the Dom in this scene, it is up to Ryan to break the ice. So, he deliberately reaches out and puts his hand on top of Shane's tense fist. Shane takes a breath, and his hand slowly uncurls to lie flat, palm down on the table. "That's better," Ryan says. He idly rubs his thumb over the top of Shane's knuckles for a moment before sitting back in his chair.

"Here’s what we're gonna do," he says slowly, watching Shane's face for comprehension and any signs of disagreement. "Usually, if I'd never done impact play with someone before, I'd want to start with a simple spanking and see what happened. You might be surprised how you feel about it."

Shane just nods, his eyes calm and clear. Ryan wonders if Shane will drop into subspace or merely endure the punishment. 

Shane never seems to be done surprising him, and Ryan knows better than to think he can tell yet.

"We're not going to take it into a prisoner roleplay; nothing like that tonight. If you like this, decide you want to do it again, we can figure that out later, but tonight, it's just going to be us Ghoulboys in our set. Any objections so far?"

"Like it?" Shane replies. "The point isn't to _like _it, Ryan. It's supposed to be like a punishment."

Ryan wonders if Shane is purposefully bratting or if it is just his untamable _Shane-ness _coming through. "You being a brat again, big guy?" he asks, letting his voice take on a darker note. He'd seen that flash of fear earlier in Shane's face, and the Dom in him, that part of him he pulls out to play Ricky Goldsworth, had felt positively feral to see it. 

It flashes again. "No, no. Sorry," Shane says, almost timidly. Ryan feels a pleased burn in his chest, that typical thrill that comes when he’s the dominant one. 

"I know you're not looking for a sex thing, Shane, but believe it or not, there are other reasons people like being spanked that aren't related to sex. Some people do it because it relieves their guilt or anxiety. Some do it for, like, external accountability. Some people just get high off the endorphin rush. Got it?"

Shane looks slightly startled. He nods.

"Good. Now, I know you get the concept of a safe word, but I don't think we actually need one tonight because we're not doing any kind of consent play here. If either of us need to stop for whatever reason, we can just say it. So, if you say stop, wait, call a time-out, whatever, I'll do it." He clears his throat a little. "I mean, I expect you're gonna whine and make some noise because it _will _hurt, so I'm not going to stop for that. That's kinda what you're here for, right?"

"Yeah," Shane replies. He chuckles. "That feels weird to say."

"I mean, that better be what you're expecting, since it's what you're going to get," Ryan points out. He wants to be really clear about that.

"That's what Sara says," Shane says, looking slightly amused. Ryan cracks a grin himself.

"Smart lady. Now, do you hurt anywhere? Achy back, knees acting up from supporting roughly four miles of thigh, stomachache? Anything I can fuck up worse by spanking you?"

Shane shakes his head. "Healthy as a horse," he says, drumming his fingers on the table. 

"Ok then. You ready for this?"

Shane gives a small nod. "Ready," he echoes.

"Alright, buddy. We're going to do this then," he says. He stands and quickly crosses the set to lock the door. After a moment of thought, he also hits the switch that says filming is in progress. Yeah, it is getting late, and most people are long gone, but the last thing they need is to be interrupted. 

That would take this from weird to downright awkward. 

He then walks back over to the desk and pulls the chair out a couple of feet. “Come over here," he directs.

Shane stands slowly, and for a moment, there is a sense of surreality that floods over Ryan. There are only a few steps for Shane to take, but they are slow and awkward, like a baby giraffe. Ryan reaches out and wraps his hand firmly around Shane's bony wrist. He feels Shane tug back slightly, as though testing his grip strength, before settling into it. Reality, too, snaps back into place.

Ryan lifts his right foot to rest on the chair, turning his thigh into a convenient prop to turn Shane over. 

Shane stutter-steps when he realizes Ryan's intentions. "Ryan," he says softly, not allowing himself to be assisted into position. "You're gonna do it like that?" The uncertainty is clear from head to foot. 

"It's pretty traditional," Ryan says, hand still firm on Shane's wrist. "Unless you'd prefer I sit and put you across my lap." He has a gut feeling that more than anything else in this whole scenario, Shane really wants to be pushed to do what he is told and take his debatably deserved punishment. Ryan still isn't completely certain what Shane feels he needs punishing for, but sometimes that kind of thing is between the sub and the universe.

"I won't...I can't possibly fit," Shane says, sounding uncharacteristically anxious. "I'm way too tall."

"You'll fit, big guy," Ryan soothes, using his free hand to pat Shane's shoulder. "This isn't the biggest height difference I've ever seen." His mind flashes briefly to a demonstration he'd watched at his first kink party, where a gorgeous dominatrix who can't have been taller than 5'2 somehow managed to balance a very cooperative man who was easily a foot taller over her knees.

Shane looks at him suddenly. "You've spanked someone taller than me?" He sounds surprised.

"What? No," Ryan says. "Nope, can't say I have; you're tall as fuck. But I've seen tiny girls do it. It's possible. You're pretty thin, so that'll help." He pats his leg. "Come on."

He actually sees Shane swallow and give a tiny jerk of his head. "Ok, over the knee. Got it," he says, and to Ryan at least, it sounds like he is trying to psych himself up.

"Let me help you do as you're told," Ryan says, bringing just a touch of his Ricky Goldsworth voice out. Shane seems to slump slightly, the resistance in his body just giving way with Ryan's gentle, condescending verbal prod. Ryan carefully places a hand on the middle of Shane's back and guides his long, thin frame into position over Ryan's thigh. 

Ryan arranges him carefully, making sure however unsteady and precarious this position feels, Shane won't end up falling and cracking his head or anything. He's never spanked anyone so fucking tall before and figuring out exactly where to put him takes a little finagling. Eventually, Shane's hands are gripping the seat of the chair, and he is still standing, but pushed forward enough that he has to balance on his toes. That puts his ass at an angle where Ryan will be able to put a good amount of momentum on his swing.

"How's that feel?" he asks. His left arm holds tight to Shane's middle. 

He feels Shane's lungs expanding and contracting under his arm. "Scary," he says softly, and the sincerity of it makes Ryan want to yank him back up and see his face. It sounds to him like Shane has actually dropped into subspace. Holy shit. He hasn't even spanked him yet.

"You alright?" he asks. 

Shane says, "Uh huh. Please don't drop me," in a very small, quiet voice. 

Ryan pats his back. "I've got you," he says. He takes a deep breath of his own and gently rests his hand on his friend's butt. Definitely not a situation he'd seen coming before today, but…a butt is basically a butt, right?

"Here we go," he warns, and then lifts and brings his palm down pretty hard against the roundest part of Shane's flat, chino-covered rear end. Not as hard as he possibly can, but hard enough to immediately cause a strong sting in his palm. 

Shane actually lets out a yelp, bouncing reactively on his toes. "Ow!" 

That seems about right to start, then. If this is supposed to be like a punishment, Ryan doesn’t want to warm him up too much. They'll be here all night.

He brings his hand down hard on the other cheek, and feels Shane jump again. It is kind of a lovely reaction, honestly. Watching the response is one of Ryan's favorite parts of taking the dominant role.

_Time to pick up the pace,_ thinks Ryan. 

_SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! _

Every time his hand lands, Shane jerks and makes some kind of pained squeak. Shane is somewhat of a stoic, but he isn’t the kind of guy who will pretend something doesn’t hurt just to bolster his masculinity or whatever. So to Ryan, those noises and the accompanying squirming seems like a good indication that he is giving Shane exactly what he is looking for: a real, quick, painful kind of spanking. 

He doesn’t know if he can smack him hard enough to get Shane to cry, especially without an implement, but he figures he'll give it his best shot. 

Then, on the side of the desk, artfully arranged with a compass and several no.2 pencils, he sees something that might get them there. He pauses momentarily and leans slightly over Shane's bent back to snag it and slide it into his own back pocket. 

That heavy, old-fashioned ruler might do nicely.

* * *

Shane sucks in a loud breath. _Ow! Fuck that hurts!_

He really wants to push himself, to kind of test his own limits and only cry uncle when he can't take another second.

What is the fun, he figures, in giving up too soon? And also, it's not like those prisoners could just cry uncle.

The position Ryan has him in is diabolical. He can't stand solidly on his own feet because of how Ryan has him perched. He is folded nearly in half over Ryan's leg, and the balls of his feet are the only part that make decent contact with the ground. He’s holding onto the chair for dear life.

Ryan's hand comes down again, faster now, and just as hard. Shane squeaks, which turns into a drawn-out, low-volume yell when the hits just keep coming. "Ryan!" he pleads finally.

Ryan pauses. "You doing ok, big guy?" he asks.

Shane wiggles a little, wishing he could ease the intensity of the sting. But he feels sure he'll tip over if he tries to reach back and rub away some of it. "It hurts!" 

He’s whining, Shane notices. He doesn’t care one bit. Jesus Christ, who would do this to punish a kid? 

"Yeah, I'm sure it does," Ryan says, not unsympathetically. And then he’s dropping another flurry of painful smacks. 

"Aaah," Shane yells, dancing back and forth between his feet. "Fuck! Shit! Fuck!" He's always jokingly called Ryan, “little guy," to go with his own, "big guy," moniker, but he is super strong. Ryan packs a fucking wallop far beyond what Shane would have expected. "Fuuuuuuck!"

"Watch your language!" Ryan chides, and Shane can't actually tell if the man is joking or at least contextually serious. "Don't make me take this ruler to your ass, Madej!"

Shane gasps in a large, shaky breath, considering the idea briefly. Well, in for a penny, in for a pound. "Do y-your worst," he manages to say with only a slight stutter.

There is a pause, and Shane takes another good breath of air. His entire ass feels not unlike what he thinks it might feel like if an entire colony of bees stung him. At once.

(It is pretty fucking painful, in other words.)

Oh shit. Maybe it’s not a good idea to taunt the Bergara.

And then Ryan says, "You asked for it, man," and sort of twists the back of Shane's shirt in his fist, yanking him forward just an inch or so, to the point that he nearly loses his balance and has to wrap an arm around Ryan's calf for support. Shane actually hears the whistle of the ruler being brought through the air, and the thought,_ I have made a terrible mistake _flashes through his brain as it lands against his ass with the loudest _SNAP! _Shane had ever heard.

The pain follows an instant later, and Shane lets out a howl. Tears come to his eyes, and it literally takes his breath away for a moment. And in that moment, Ryan brings it down again.

His body reacts without him, immediately trying to bail. Nobody is ready to handle that much pain at once.

Shane isn't sure exactly what’s happening, because everything is 100% instinct, but he is definitely falling or rolling or something, there are noises, and he is much too concerned with the pain to worry about anything else. 

He doesn’t hit the floor hard though, because Ryan slows his descent somehow, bringing him in for a moderately jarring landing halfway on his lap. "Whoa buddy, ok, it's ok," he hears Ryan chanting softly, seemingly from all around him. 

Shane shakes his head violently because he’ s done now, and while he doesn’t have words, he needs Ryan to know that with every fiber of his being. _It seems dark,_ he thinks. His ass is actually on fire.

"Shh, we're done," Ryan says, almost as though he can read Shane's mind. "No more spanking, ok?" 

Hands are on Shane's left arm, and then one moves to his head. Shane can smell Ryan's cologne or deodorant or something else a little woodsy and fresh. He can feel Ryan's hand massaging his arm and is startled to realize that the heat radiating from it is because that is the hand Ryan used to beat his ass.

_Ow. Ow. Ow. _"Just relax," Ryan says. "You're ok. You did great."

After some time, Shane realizes that he has his right hand protectively cupped over his ass. A moment later, he realizes that he is curled awkwardly on his side, and the reason it is so fucking dark and woodsy is that his face is half pressed into Ryan's shirt. He thinks about pulling away, but honestly, his ass is still on fire and he doesn’t have the energy. He can breathe okay. Ryan clearly doesn’t care.

"You did good, Shane," Ryan says in that same smooth, calming voice. "You back with me? Can you talk to me yet?"

"No," Shane manages after a moment. 

"Alright, fair enough," Ryan says, and there is that little wheezy laugh on the end. The hand on his head gently pets his hair. "You did great. You took that beautifully."

Suddenly, Ryan's other hand moves from his arm, and then he is turning his face. His knuckles swipe under Shane's eyes. "Good boy," he says, soft and sincere. "Shh…just catch your breath. There you go." Ryan pulls his hand back to Shane's arm, and Shane feels the smear of wetness left behind on his cheek.

"I cried?" he croaks, finally making the connection.

"Just a little. Nothing wrong with that," Ryan says. Shane feels Ryan's stomach move as he takes in a deep breath. "Gonna have to start calling you tough guy, ‘cause I wasn't exactly holding back much. Those last two swats kinda did you in." His hand gently rubs Shane's arm, almost like he is trying to warm him up. "You were so good. You did good, baby!" He draws out the 'baby' in the way they usually do, but there is a sincerity to it that makes Shane choke up a little again.

Okay. Things are okay. Ryan has this under control.

Shane can just chill.

* * *

Shane is very clearly _dropped, _and not just because he literally threw himself off Ryan's knee. If Ryan had been a little slower to react, he would have had a lot of explaining to do to a doctor at the emergency room (and even scarier, _Sara)_. As it is, he'd managed to do a hail-Mary-yank and pull Shane down mostly towards him, but he won't be surprised if Shane has bruises on his bony knees tomorrow.

He combs his fingers through Shane's hair. Shane is facing him, curled in an awkward fetal position with his face buried in Ryan's stomach. His shoulders and torso are supported on Ryan's crossed legs. 

Ryan is keeping up a running litany of calming nonsense that he doubts Shane can really understand, but knows is still needed. 

He is practiced in this kind of thing while doing aftercare for a scene. It comes out automatically, without any real conscious thought.

Ryan moves one hand to Shane's back, rubbing circles against it. Shane makes an adorable, pleased little noise.

Having had a fair amount of experience with this, Ryan knows how intense the post-scene feelings can be on both sides. Even so, he still finds himself surprised by exactly how much _he _is feeling after a spanking that lasted less than five minutes.

He just wants to protect Shane, which is unusual because on location, at least, Shane usually takes the role of protector. He also feels the strongest affection for his fearless friend, who wanted this (admittedly weird) thing and just asked for it, unafraid of the potential for disaster. _Love, _his brain supplies. _You love him you doofus. He's your best friend._

Maybe it should feel weird, but it doesn't.

The hand that Shane isn't shielding his butt with comes up and grabs Ryan's shirt. "How are you doing?" Ryan asks. "Are you back?"

Shane shakes his head, and Ryan has to hold back a laugh. Poor guy is out of his mind on endorphins, but the end result makes him look like a stubborn toddler.

He knows he needs to get some water into the big guy, but Shane is doing his best impression of a limpet. Ryan doesn’t want to leave him alone like this for long.

Shane interrupts his thoughts. "That was...ow. Very ow." He wraps the arm that isn't tangled in Ryan's shirt around his own chest. There is a gleam of vulnerability on him that Ryan isn't used to.

"Mmhm," Ryan agrees. "That's what I was going for. You did a good job with it."

He needs to get Shane up, so he can get him to drink some water. Since Shane just won’t let go of his shirt, Ryan uses a combination of pulling and coaxing to get Shane up to a kneeling position, mindful of the fact that Shane's ass is probably sorer than it has ever been. Shane lets out a few noises of complaint but is still pliant and allows Ryan to rearrange him.

The hug takes him by surprise. Shane just falls against Ryan's chest, flinging his arms around Ryan's neck. Instinctively, Ryan returns the hug, squeezing his best friend tightly.

"Hey, buddy, you doing ok?" Ryan asks softly. He can feel Shane nod against his head, but Shane doesn’t say anything.

"Alright. You just need a minute?"

Shane nods again. 

Ryan rubs Shane's back. "You did so well, tough guy. I'm proud of you. Not to be too weird, but It was beautiful. I'm glad you let me be a part of it."

Shane gives a little hiccup at Ryan's praise. "Thank you," he says in a tiny, soft voice that makes him sound almost like a little kid.

That is interesting, and unexpected. Ryan makes a mental note that he needs to talk to Shane about it later.

Shane squeezes him tighter, which Ryan reciprocates. He thinks he feels his ribs creak.

They’ve never been particularly physically demonstrative people. Not that they never touch, but Ryan, at least, had always kept his distance, afraid of giving too much fodder to their fans. 

Apparently spanking someone can really bring down walls, because Shane wants to hug him, and Ryan wants to hug back.

"You did beautifully, Shane. I wish you could have seen yourself," Ryan praises. He feels Shane hiccup against him.

"It was different than I thought," Shane says against the side of Ryan's head. Ryan wants to look at him, but Shane is hugging for dear life, so he doesn’t bother to try. 

"Yeah? How?" Ryan prods.

He feels Shane take a deep breath. "I knew it was gonna hurt, but, uh…It really hurt. You're pretty strong for a little guy, you know." 

Ryan laughs, and Shane does too. Then Shane shakes his head. "But I wasn't really expecting, like, emotions. You know?"

"Emotions are part of the deal," Ryan says. "That's why it's BD**EEEE**SM." He emphasizes on the 'E' sound. "The 'E' stands for emotions."

Shane laughs. "Oh, _Ryan,_" he says fondly, sounding more like himself.

Ryan laughs too. "Don't you 'Oh Ryan' me, young man," he jokes. "I can turn you back over my knee!"

"Oh, no, no, no," Shane replies quickly. "No more spanking tonight. Please." He is joking, but at the same time, he absolutely means it, and Ryan can tell. 

That warmth, maybe of pride or maybe of sadism, grows slightly in his chest.

Ryan smiles. "No more spanking tonight," he agrees. "Right now, I want to get some water in you, and make sure you're doing okay before I send you back to your girlfriend."

Shane nods. 

"Ok, come on. We're gonna raid the kitchen."

Shane shakes his head. "Don't wanna," he pouts, still holding onto Ryan for dear life.

"Come on, be a good boy for me," Ryan cajoles automatically, then feels his ears redden as he realizes.

For his part, Shane lets out a giant sigh. "I'm _good_," he says, sounding mildly indignant. Obviously,_ he_ sees nothing weird in Ryan's words.

Ah, fuck it. The care and keeping of a sub is basically the same whether it is a sex thing or not, and if his suspicions are correct, Shane will respond positively to this. "We're gonna go get some water, and you're gonna behave while we do it, understand?" he says sternly.

That gets Shane to reluctantly loosen his grip. "Ok," he says. _Bingo!_

He grabs Shane's hand. The building is basically empty anyway, and he doubts it would shock anyone at BuzzFeed at this point. "Come on."

The walk to the kitchen is uneventful.

Ryan leaves Shane leaning against the counter while he fills a tall glass tumbler with ice water. He hands it to Shane. "Drink that, big guy," he orders.

Shane gives him a put-upon look. "I'm not thirsty," he whines childishly. _Little tendencies, _Ryan notes again. 

"Too bad, baby," Ryan says firmly. "Drink some water."

Shane crosses his arms stubbornly over his chest. God, what a brat.

"I swear to God I'll feed it to you if you don't drink it," Ryan threatens in a teasing tone. He means it though, and he can tell that Shane sees that.

With a sigh, Shane finally takes the water. Ryan watches him drink it, only satisfied when half the glass is gone. "Good job," he says.

"Can I get another hug?" Shane asks quietly, fiddling with the glass and looking unusually vulnerable. It is weirdly adorable, and not something that Ryan is about to deny him after such an intense scene. Ryan opens his arms, and Shane scoots himself right in, hugging him hard. 

They stand like that for a good while, silent, until there is a soft clearing of the throat in the doorway. Ryan whips his head around and sees a mop of dark curls.

_"¡Ay Dios mío, finalmente!"_ Curly says, heading for the refrigerator. "You look so cute all cuddled up like that."

Ryan lets go of Shane, turning to stand protectively in front of him. As though Curly, who is probably the sweetest and least judgmental man he knows, is any threat to him or Shane. He'd probably be horrified by the thought.

"Hi Curly," Shane says. "How's it going?" He, at least, does not seem flustered by the sudden appearance of a co-worker.

Curly pulls a lemon La Croix from the fridge and popped the top. "Can't complain. Just throwing a couple finishing touches in the latest video." He walks past them to the carb cupboard and grabs a handful of pretzel twists before leaning against the counter, openly studying them both. "How about you?"

"Same," Ryan says. Curly just watches them, and Ryan can’t help feeling like he _knows. _Ryan feels a slow flush crawl up his face. "This latest video has been hell to edit, but I think we're almost there."

"I'm sure it's lovely," Curly says. "Don't let perfect be the enemy of great thought. You've surely got better things to do tonight than playing around with a _video._" He winks at them both. "Just so long as everyone is cool with it. Sara, uh, 'editing' with you boys tonight by chance?" There is a very unnecessary emphasis on 'editing' to Ryan's ear.

Fuck. Someone else who thinks they might be polyamorous or just plain cheating. Ryan refuses to think about what that means Curly thinks they are up to. "It's not--"

"Sara isn't editing, but she's supportive from home," Shane says. "She knows how important this is to the Ghoulboys."

Ryan's blush ups in intensity. "Uh--". Does Shane not understand the implications behind Curly's words?

"Well, good," Curly says. He smiles, his eyes crinkling. "As much as I wish I can be nosy about your project, I've got to get back to work. Have a good night, gentlemen." 

"You too," Shane and Ryan echo in unison, and then Curly, his La Croix, and his pretzels disappear back into the open office.

Ryan slumps. "The gossip is going to be wild," he says. 

Shane shrugs, apparently unperturbed. "Half the office thinks we're dating anyway. Hell, half the internet does too. What's a little gossip?"

Ryan shrugs. There isn't anything to do about it now anyway so there is no use thinking about it. And more important than the gossip is taking care of Shane. Aftercare is essential.

He steps away and grabs a glass to fill for himself at the water cooler. Ryan takes a couple good swallows before he turns back to face Shane, who is looking at him with an unbearably fond expression. "Finish your water, big guy," he says.

Shane lifts his glass in a silent toast.

* * *

He feels a little weird, a little high, a little goofy. 

Not the kind of weird that he feels at 4am while he and Ryan are tromping through abandoned places and yelling at the air; that is a teenaged, heavy, manic weird that comes from too much caffeine and not enough sleep.

This is a different kind of weird. A soft, happy kind of weird, that feels more like kittens and warm sunlight and floating champagne bubbles, light and ethereal. 

This is not what he'd expected at all.

For one thing, those biceps of Ryan's are not purely decorative. He's always kind of known that Ryan is stronger than him, but to feel it first-hand (heh) is a different understanding. 

For another, he'd found his pain tolerance threshold, which is apparently about three to four minutes of aggressive spanking plus two good smacks with a ruler. That big, heavy one that the set dresser loves for its 'vintage look and mahogany wood.' 

Spoiler alert: That shit is a _hard_wood.

And he is still experiencing the last bit of the unexpected, which is Ryan himself.

For one thing, he hadn't known that this is a thing that Ryan apparently does with some regularity. The way he'd talked about it while explaining things (with only a hint of a blush high on his cheeks) and then just kind of...swooped in and took over. Took control really. And in the process, Ryan made Shane feel a little bit like he was four years old, although it is possible that is partially the spanking itself. It is, at least technically, a child's punishment, although Shane can't imagine inflicting that experience on a child.

Also, Ryan was unexpectedly...well, sweet. Kind. Gentle, even, which is ironic considering how much the actual spanking had hurt. Shane had known Ryan as a decent guy, a good person, of course. But having that amount of caretaking aimed at him is weirdly breathtaking. 

Like right now. Right now, Ryan is _holding his hand. _He is _holding _Shane's _hand _and leading him through **BuzzFeed. **

They submitted their edits, because Ryan had decided he was finally satisfied, and now Ryan is _leading _him like a child to the parking garage**.**

His old pal Ryan Bergara, the man who once built a pillow wall in the middle of the bed and 'no homo'd' an accidental brushing of their hands during filming, is just gently holding his hand and doing a relatively one-sided running narrative that Shane isn't bothering to follow.

He figures if it is really important, Ryan will make sure he knows.

"Come on, big guy, I promised Sara I'd get you home safe," Ryan says, and Shane suddenly realizes that they are standing at Ryan's car. Shane sighs.

Ryan's car always feels like he is crunched up with his knees to his ears. "I don't like your car," Shane mumbles.

"I know buddy. But it's late, at least, so it shouldn't take that long to get you home and settled," Ryan says. He opens the passenger door and let go of Shane's hand. Shane sighs and folds himself into the car, wincing when his right butt cheek hits the seat. The ruler left its mark.

He is surprised when Ryan reaches over him and clicks the seat belt into place. "Watch your hands," he warns before closing the door.

Ryan tosses something in the backseat before climbing into the driver's seat. And then they are driving.

"I… This was different than I thought," Shane says. He looks over at Ryan, who glances at him quickly before returning his eyes to the road.

"Yeah?" Ryan says. "Why's that?"

He sounds interested, so Shane tries to put his feelings into words. 

"I just...you spanked me, which hurt and was not particularly nice--" he glares slightly at Ryan, who is biting the inside of his cheek like he does when he is amused but trying not to show it, "--but then you made it better, and like, took care of me, which was nice like kittens and sunny mornings."

Ryan wheezes at that. "That's weirdly adorable," he says. 

"And then you gave a pretty great hug," Shane adds after a moment of thought. "I know you don't do that touchy stuff on camera ‘cause you don't want the fans to think you're gay--"

"I mean, I don't want to feed the fanfiction," Ryan says. "I don't, like, personally care." His voice gets softer. "I've grown up a lot since my frat house days."

"You're getting better at not caring too much," Shane agrees. "Like tonight, you didn’t make it weird and 'no homo' your way out of this, never to be seen again."

"It was at least mildly homo," Ryan agrees. "I spent a fair amount of time with my hand on your butt."

Shane just blinks, digesting the sentence. He'd never thought he'd hear that one from Ryan Steven Bergara. "I mean, I guess," Shane says. "But you didn’t freak out. And then when I tapped out, you just took care of me ‘cause you're my friend and you, you love me and whatever."

Maybe he is a little drunk on this weird, champagne feeling. He watches Ryan's face.

Ryan, for his part, looks pensive. He is clearly thinking hard about Shane's words. "Yeah, I do" he says. "I mean, people do things for their friends. Even weird things."

Shane senses some kind of emotional _thing _brewing in Ryan. He puts a hand on Ryan's shoulder in support. 

"You're great, Ryan," he says, patting in a way he hopes is reassuring. "I'm really glad we're friends." 

"Thanks Shane," Ryan says, his voice soft but affectionate. "Me too."

Shane sighs and leans his head against Ryan's shoulder.

"Don't fall asleep, yet," Ryan warns. "Sara and I are not carrying you to bed. For one thing, she's tiny."

"I'm not," Shane says. He is possible lying; he'll figure that out later. "My eyes are tired because _someone _spanked me until I cried!"

"Yeah, yeah," Ryan says. "You literally asked for it, bud."

"Didn’t quite know what I was asking for, now, did I?" Shane points out. He pulls back from Ryan's shoulder and leans to face the ceiling. "But in a weird way, it was almost…cathartic? I'm not sure if that's the right word." Shane rubs the middle knuckle of his pointer finger against his lips thoughtfully. 

He sees Ryan give a little half-smile. "It's kind of a rush, isn't it?" 

Shane nods. "Weird as fuck," he says, "but yeah, it's a hell of a rush."

"Are you kink-shaming me, Shane Madej?" Ryan asks in a mock-affronted voice. 

"Does it count as a kink if you're not trying to have sex?" Shane asks curiously. "I thought kink was a sex thing."

"Nah, not always," Ryan says. "I mean, tonight wasn't a sex thing, but it was still a kink thing."

Shane thinks it over. Ryan is right. For all the closeness, the lack of personal space, the physical contact (both painful and soothing), it hadn't been sexual. It had been _intimate _though, which feels like a weird word to associate with Ryan. But Shane believes in being honest with himself, so he just allows the idea to sink in.

"Well, I'm not kink-shaming," Shane says finally. "It would be a bit hypocritical, at the very least, and also not exactly 'on-brand.'

Ryan lets out a wheezy laugh. "So you were paying attention this afternoon in that meeting with the social media manager," he teases.

"Enough to catch the buzzwords," Shane agrees. "I was a little distracted because I was trying to decide how I was going to bring all of _this _up."

Ryan lets out a soft huff of amusement. "Well, you did it," he says. "How do you feel now?"

Shane sighs. "Kind of sleepy and relaxed," he admits. "Just chill. Kinda wanna go home and go to bed."

He glances over at Ryan, who has a very knowing, satisfied expression on his face. "_ What?_" Shane asks pointedly.

"What do you mean, _what?_ I didn’t say anything," Ryan says.

"You don’t have to. You're sitting over there looking like the cat who ate the canary," Shane says. 

Ryan just keeps grinning that satisfied, little grin. "I don't know what you're talking about," he lies with a sideways glance at Shane.

And Shane… Shane just sticks his tongue out at his friend, because he is a mature adult.

* * *

Ryan tries to keep Shane awake, but even though it is after 8, the traffic is still enough to slow them down and in about fifteen minutes, Shane is breathing slowly and evenly in the passenger seat.

Listen, the crash after a scene can knock anyone out, but especially a newbie who has never done it before. Ryan knew it was a lost cause. He's just proud that he managed to get Shane into the car under his own power.

Shane sleeps, and Ryan tries to come to terms with the weird feelings in his chest.

The easiest thing, and the thing that brings him the most relief, is that this isn't about sex. Nothing can fuck up a friendship faster than trying to bring sex into it. Yeah, on the occasions that it works, it can be great. But when it doesn't, the fallout is heavy.

Ryan had wondered if this was going to go that way. He can acknowledge that a lot of BDSM has a heavy sexual element to it. Hell, that is usually (but not always) how he plays. So it had been with some trepidation that he'd gone into this, even after Shane had assured him that wasn't what it was about, and even with Sara's explicit blessing.

Listen, people don’t always know what turns them on before they know. 

Thankfully, though, while he felt a lot of different things today, horny wasn't one of them. And he'd seen nothing of the sort from Shane either.

It's pretty impossible to hide a boner when you're turned over someone's leg, after all. 

He has more trouble with how he'd felt watching Shane sink down into subspace.

It had happened lightning-fast. A little bit of condescension and the physical act of putting Shane over his knee had dropped his friend into subspace like a rock. It had been breathtakingly beautiful.

Ryan hadn't been ready for the rush of emotions that had roared through him. Protectiveness, affection, love. 

And Ryan can admit, at least privately to himself, that this is something he really wants to do again. 

He can only hope Shane agrees.

It is hard to tell right now, because Shane is still high off the endorphin rush. It isn't like you can hold anyone to the things they say immediately post-scene. But in his gut, Ryan has a feeling.

Part of it is the quality of subspace that Shane dropped into. He isn't anything close to an expert, but even he can see that Shane has some Little tendencies.

Ryan hasn't ever done ageplay before. His first exposure to the concept had been through mindless YouTube auto play of a documentary channel. He'd already gotten into basic kink at that point, and immediately written this particular thing off as way too weird for him. Everything isn't for everyone, and that’s fine.

But he'd still watched the whole documentary.

He hadn't thought anything more about it. He had been 21, he'd recently signed up for an account on FetLife, and he was having fun learning more about kink, talking with people, and trying new things. 

Through Fetlife, Ryan had learned about kink events. He'd gone to munches and hit up club nights and played different kinds of scenes with various people with whom he'd hit it off. And all kinds of kinksters were at these events, including ageplayers and littles.

What he'd learned was that it doesn’t have to be as weird as the sensationalist documentary he'd seen on YouTube. In fact, for a lot of people, it seemed to be a pretty chill thing. He'd let go of a lot of his initial judgements.

Your kink is not my kink and that's okay, and all that.

Still, he's never seriously wondered if it would be something he would want to try until tonight. Because seeing Shane doing some unconscious behaviors he's seen in the littles at kink events has set something off in his chest, something fierce and protective and weird. 

He'll need to do some research, but if there is one thing Ryan is good at, it’s research.

He pulls into Shane and Sara's driveway and puts the car into park. "Wakey wakey Shane," he sing-songs. 

Shane makes a wordless protesting noise and turns his face away from Ryan. 

"Uh-uh," Ryan says. "I'm not carrying you in there. You gotta wake up."

"Like you can," Shane mumbles sleepily, but his eyes reluctantly open.

Ryan is pretty sure he can, but he really doesn’t want to and so he doesn’t protest. Instead, he gets out and walks around to Shane's door.

Shane hasn't really moved. He lets Ryan open his door and unbuckle his seat-belt without a single word of protest or even a glib observation. He stands up slowly with a little groan. 

"Come on, big guy. Let me hand you off to Sara," Ryan says. He grabs Shane's backpack from the backseat of the car and hoists it over one shoulder.

"Hand me off? I'm not a baton, Ryan," Shane says.

"You're long and skinny like one," Ryan returns, and sees Shane shake his head good-naturedly. Ryan puts his hand on Shane's back just below his shoulder blades and herds him towards the door of the house. "Now come on, before your girl thinks I damaged you."

"That's right, be afraid," Shane says. "She _will _fuck you up."

"No doubt," Ryan says. He absolutely loves Sara. She is fucking phenomenal.

"I need my keys," Shane says, as though suddenly realizing at the door. Ryan hands him his backpack, and Shane pulls his keys from the front pocket before letting them in.

"Hey babe, it's me and Ryan," Shane calls, turning to hang the keys on a hook by the door. It is shaped like Bigfoot, and Ryan is pretty sure he recognizes it as a gift from a fan. Another hook, shaped like a butterfly, already holds a set of keys.

Sara wanders out of the kitchen doorway. "Well, he didn’t kill you," she notes with a smile. She is dressed in black leggings and a giant hoodie that probably belongs to Shane. Her feet are bare and quiet against the hardwood floor of their living room.

She leans in and kisses Shane hello and gives Ryan a little hug. "So, how'd it go?" She sounds curious. "You guys still friends?"

"Of course," Shane replies right on top of Ryan’s, “Why wouldn't we be?" Sara starts to giggle, and both men follow in her wake.

"Well, good," she says. She really looks at Shane then. "You look tired," she says softly, reaching a delicate hand up to touch Shane's face.

"Exhausted," Shane admits. "Thinking about going to bed just like this, honestly.". He gestures up and down his person.

"At least go brush your teeth and get out of the pants," Ryan tells him. "You'll sleep better."

Shane sighs and gives a one-armed hug around Ryan's neck that Ryan returns with an affectionate couple of pats to the arm. He then kisses the top of Sara's curly head before heading silently towards the master bedroom. Sara and Ryan both watch him until he disappears behind the door. Then Sara flops down into their grey IKEA couch and grabs Ryan's forearm to pull him down too. 

"What the hell?" Sara says, sounding impressed. "You just told him what to do and he just fucking did it. He never just does what you tell him. He usually does the opposite just to be contrary." She looks up at him. "Exactly how hard did you beat his ass, Ry?"

Ryan laughs. "Not that hard," he says. "That's not what that is."

Now Sara looks intrigued. "So what is it then?" she asks.

Ryan shrugs. "Gonna have to do some research," he says. "Got an idea, but it needs to be backed before I'll share with the class."

Sara laughs and jokingly smacks his bicep. "Nerd," she says.

"Just, you know, be gentle with him tonight. I think he's ok, but he might be a little weird. I'm sure you're capable of handling it," Ryan says. 

"He's always a little weird," Sara says, which makes Ryan smile. It’s true; it is why they actually get along so well. 

It feels wrong to be leaving his sub (and shit, when did Shane become 'his' sub anyway?) in someone else's hands before he's completely come up from subspace, but there just isn't anything Ryan can do. He can hardly tell Sara that he is going to camp out next to Shane all night in case of kink-related emergency. "Just, uh, if something weird goes down or he needs something from me, you can totally call. I'll be over here in 20 minutes flat." He feels like a nervous parent leaving instructions for the babysitter, which is mildly fucked up. Sara is Shane's _partner._ Surely if anyone can be trusted with Shane, it’s her.

Sara's eyes are warm. "That's sweet, Ryan," she says softly. "I'll make sure he calls you if he needs to."

Ryan nods and starts to stand, then changes his mind and sits back down. "Hey Sara? I almost forgot. There uh… There might be some new gossip around the office tomorrow."

Sara raises her eyebrows. "Why would there be new gossip?" 

"Uh…Curly caught us in the kitchen?"

Sara's already wide eyes nearly bug out of her head. "You spanked him in the communal kitchen?" she hisses. "What the fuck?! Why would you--"

"No! No, absolutely not. Locked doors, private area, soundproofing, nobody saw or heard anything," Ryan hurries to assure her. 

Her eyes go from horrified to slightly gleeful in about two seconds flat. "Holy shit, you spanked him on the Unsolved set, didn’t you?" she breathes. She looks like Christmas has come early. "That's twisted and I love it."

"You're missing the point," Ryan says. "We were in the kitchen afterwards and I was trying to get some water in him, and he asked me for a hug."

"That's adorable," Sara says. Ryan feels himself trying to flush. Stupid thing to be embarrassed by, after everything that had gone down tonight, but what can he do? And also, yes, Shane had been adorable as fuck when he'd asked for another hug.

"Anyway, so I hugged him, because yeah, whatever, apparently that's something we do now, and then Curly caught us like that." Ryan clears his throat slightly. "But I kind of got the impression that he thought we were up to a lot more than that, because he asked about you in a not-so-subtle, _Curly _kind of way, and uh, I'd bet he's gonna bring it up to you tomorrow."

Sara laughs. "That'll be fun," she says, sounding sincere. "You think I should play into the gossip? Pretend I was absolutely clueless? Ooh, or I can pretend we all had a hot and heavy three-way. Which do you prefer?"

"Neither!" Ryan says, laughing. "Oh, God, Sara, you can't! If you tell Curly either of those things, I'm actually going to die."

Sara snaps her fingers. "Aw, shucks," she jokes. "Alright. I'll defend your honor, I guess, since you made a valiant attempt to defend mine earlier."

Ryan stands up and starts walking towards the door. "I'd say goodnight to Shane, but if he's not fast asleep right now, I'll walk home." There’s no way he’s not out like a light after all this.

Sara follows him. "Yeah, he looked pretty zonked," she agrees. "I'll probably have to wait until tomorrow to hear all about it, which is a damn shame, but the boy needs his beauty rest."

Ryan smiles at her. "You're the best," Ryan tells her. "Sincerely."

"I know," she says. She pushes up on her tiptoes and gently kisses his cheek before opening the door for him. "See you tomorrow."

Ryan leaves with a wave of acknowledgement.

And that is the beginning of the whole weird, wonderful thing.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd love to hear from you! Hit me up at littlebunnywrites.tumblr.com and we can talk meta or just have a chat!


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